Fort Vancouver Historic Structures Report

Recommendations

a. Reconstruction of the bakery should be in accordance with the data provided by the Kane sketch, the Yale painting, the Vavasour ground plan, and archeological evidence. The result should be a gable-roofed building of 1-1/2 stories with the eave line at about the height of the palisade. The appended oven complex should have two chimneys at the east bakery wall, and the ovens should be covered by a wooden, shed-roofed structure without windows or exterior doors.

b. Construction should be post-on-sill, with the posts about 10 feet apart. The center posts on the gable ends should not extend above the first story, since the upper story windows were in the center of the gable. The only doors and windows in the lower story should be in the west bakery wall. Windows were generally rather small at Fort Vancouver, and two or three were probably considered sufficient. The door should be near the center of the west wall. The windows should have exterior shutters.

c. For the portion of the main bakery building which extended outside the stockade, the air space between the bottom of the sills and the ground should be filled with a tight row of upright planks or puncheons as revealed by the archeological excavations. These planks were sunk in the ground and apparently were fastened to the inside edges of the sills. It is known that the inhabitants of Fort Vancouver were troubled by skunks and other animals which invaded the area beneath the buildings. The puncheon barricade may well have been built to prevent the entry of these unwelcome visitors.

d. The presence of this puncheon wall and also the fact that the sills were on raised blocks makes it likely that the Fort Vancouver bakery had a raised wooden floor instead of one of earth despite the added fire hazard. Thus, the installation of a wooden floor is recommended. [29]

e. Additional research upon the design and equipment of bakeries and bake ovens in the 18th and early 19th centuries is recommended. The 12-volume Encyclopédie ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers, by Denis Diderot, Jean Le Rond d'Alembert, and others should be useful in this regard.

f. The fact that one inventory of the bakery included blankets makes it probable that the upper story was used as living quarters for one or more of the bakers. It is suggested therefore, that a part of the upper story be furnished for such use; the remainder perhaps was used as storage for flour and other baking supplies, as well as lumber and miscellaneous articles of fort equipment. The storage portion of the attic should include a trap door for raising and lowering stored items. There probably was a stairway to the upper floor, most likely with open treads and no hand rail.

g. The bakery should be painted white on the outside, except for the roof and the shed covering the ovens.